For Love and Honor
by NanaOsaki-san
Summary: Katara is taken from the southern water tribe at a young age and is raised in the fire nation. Her memory erased, the fire lord allows her to live out her life brought up by a rag tag group of commoner girls. As water tribe she is treated poorly by their nation but still finds happiness in the crown prince Zuko. Zuko/Katara, some early Jet/Katara. Crap summary. Later SexyTimez :3
1. Chapter 1

**A/N - Hey guys here is the first chapter of my fic where zutara/jetara sexy timez ensue...later on. You will also be able to find this story on my tumblr account at nanaosaki-sans-world Also there is a preview chapter up there as well. Well actually it is more of a scene of Jet/Katara lemon involved. Although this story will have some Jet/Katara, Zutara is the main story here. Anyways hope you all enjoy. Any questions comments, criticisms always considered and accepted. Enjoy!**

**Summary: Katara is taken from the southern water tribe at a young age and is raised in the fire nation. Her memory erased, the fire lord allows her live out her life brought up by a rag tag group of girls. As water tribe she is treated less than the poorest of their nation but still finds happiness in the crown prince Zuko. Zuko/Katara, some Jet/Katara. Crap summary and later there will be some sexy timez.**

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**Chapter one**

The young man sat in his cell, his head in his hands, wondering how he could have possibly been so stupid. He should have just left her there. At least she probably would have been safe. Now he had no idea what would happen. He knew the fire lord was cruel. He had no doubt in his mind the fire lord could have the child killed. He would probably do it in public for the whole nation to see. He would probably make him watch. He just pulled his knees to his chest rocking back and forth. _What had he done?_

**-Six months earlier-**

"Just let her go and I'll tell you the information you need," a woman knelt on the floor of an igloo looking up at a man in fire nation armor.

"You heard your mother. Get out of here!" He yelled menacingly over his shoulder, looking down at a small child.

A little girl clad in a parka clenched her gloved hands together. "Mom, I'm scared."

"Go find your dad sweetie. I'll handle this." The woman smiled slightly at her before she ran out of the igloo.

She stops just outside of the door, pressing her back against the side of the building as she sees soldiers running past. She jumps as the flap of their igloo moves aside and the man in the armor moves past her without a second glance. She waits until he is out of site before she runs back into the tent looking for her mom.

Lying in a heap on the floor is her mother. "Mommy?" She whispers as she moves closer. She bends down on her knees to shake her mom's shoulder and her mom rolls onto her back. The girl's face goes pale as she sees the blood stains on the front of her mother's parka. Crying she lays her body on her mothers, careless of the blood. "Mommy, please wake up," she pleads, sobbing quietly.

She hears a movement behind her as a young soldier comes running into the igloo. She turns a tear stained face to him.

The soldier is jarred by the site of the little girl. She is crying and is covered in blood. He realizes then that the waterbender his superior talked about must be her mother. Her eyes are narrow in hatred and he honestly doesn't blame her. He hated seeing this side of the war, hated being reminded of the monster his nation served. The young man not looking more than 18 slowly turns to leave when he feels icy wetness explode onto the back of his head. He turns to see the girl's arms moving and soon a snowball is flinging at his face before it turns to water. He leans away just in time to avoid getting more wet.

_The last waterbender isn't the women on the floor_, he realizes. _It's the little girl_.

He doesn't know what to do. He never wanted to join the southern raiders in the first place let alone kill a kid. The little girl is crying and screaming and before he knows what he is doing he is knocking her unconscious and wrapping her in a blanket. The leader's party had already left and his party was left to the looting. He really didn't know what he was doing as he hoisted the little bundle over his shoulder and left the igloo. He couldn't possibly kill the child but he couldn't leave her there either. Their party would face the fire lord's wrath if he found out they hadn't killed the last water bender.

"Xiang," the soldier turned in the direction of the voice calling him. "The captain said we need to head out."

"Right, I – uh was just grabbing some supplies from that igloo over there. I'm headed back now."

"The captain says to leave all supplies in the mess hall and they'll be sorted through later."

"Ok, understood." They nodded to each other and Xiang made his way up the ramp to the ship. He nodded to some soldiers as he walked down the hall but before making his way to the dining hall he darted to his room. He lay the bundle gently down on his bed and locked his door before unwrapping her from the blanket, checking to see that she was still breathing. He paced back and forth and checked on her every so often.

When a steward came to check if he would be joining the crew for dinner he turned him away feigning sickness. He often ate in his rooms alone. He disliked most of the crew he worked with. They were always giving him a hard time because he was a noble's son, and as such was afforded the privacy of his own room. He leaned against the wall and slid down it, putting his head in hands.

What had he done? He should have left the child there. For all they knew it would be the last raid on the southern water tribe. His leader would have reported the death of the woman to the Fire Lord. Once again he hadn't thought things through, he had just acted. His mother would know what to do. He would take the child to her when he got back.

He heard a slight movement and scrambled over to his bed. The little girl rolled over and looked at him confused for a moment. Her memory seemed to return and she drew in a deep breath. Before she could scream, Xiang covered her mouth and put his finger to his lips. She looked at him with a terrified look in her eyes. "Please be quiet little one. I'm not going to hurt you but if you scream there are others on this ship who will, do you understand?" she took a moment before she nodded her head in understanding. He removed his hand slowly, then sat back on the ground.

She sat up in the bed and scooted to the side farthest away from him, pulling her knees to her chest. Tears formed in her eyes.

"What's your name?" He asked gently.

She looked at him. "Katara," she whispered.

"Katara, that's a pretty name. I'm Xiang Kwan. You can call me Xiang."

She turned away from him again, speaking quietly. "Xiang…I wanna go home."

A few moments past and he took a deep breath. "I'm sorry little one. But…" he struggled to find the words to break the news. "I'm sorry," he said again "but we're going to the fire nation. You can't ever go home again." With that, Katara shoulders began to shake with quiet sobs. Xiang gently got up and like everything else in his life didn't think twice as he sat down next to her little form and gently rubbed her back. It didn't take her long to curl into his side as she cried herself to sleep. Not long after he followed suit, not moving from his position as he drifted off to sleep.

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**A/N – Hey guys just tweaked this a little. Previously it had said this took place one month earlier. As I was writing and outlining I realized the timeline is going to be much longer. So the next few chapters will be taking place in this "Six months earlier" timeframe. I'm going to try and state specifically where the prologue type paragraph at the beginning fits into the story. I will probably say something like "Guys this is where the prologue fits in and I might even write it into that chapter again, repeating it so it's obvious. **

**Also, previously in the description it had said she was raised by the ember island players. This has also been changed to a rag tag group of girls, more info to come on them. Also before I said as a waterbender she is treated less, but now it says as water tribe she is treated less. There is a reason for this which will be revealed in chapter 4. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - Hey guys here is chapter two. A few things to note. In the first chapter right after the first paragraph/prologue thing it says one month earlier. I'm realizing it is way more than a month. Sooo will be changing that in a few chapters when i find out just exactly how many months it is before that prologue chapter. This chapter takes place a little after the end of the last chapter. I will say exactly when the prologue takes place when it comes to that chapter so you know. [edit: read author's note at end of chapter one]**

**A/N - Also some chapters will be shorter than others, and written oddly it may seem because I'm still a budding writer. And also some updates may be sooner than others. I have 2 jobs so yeah it is hard to find free time sometimes.**

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**Chapter 2**

The full moon shined brightly in the night, reflecting off the water as the waves gently crashed against the sides of the ship. Xiang could just barely make out the shoreline and the twinkling lights of the fire nation. His hands gripped the railing tightly as he looked out at the ocean.

"It's nice out isn't it?" He turned to see one of his fellow soldiers approaching. She was dressed casually for their arrival in a pair of dark red pants and a lighter red halter top that showed off her bare midriff. Her hair was pulled over to one side of her shoulder in a loose braid and a smile on her face as she looked at him.

"It is." He replied simply.

"It'll be nice to be home. I've missed this heat." She had walked up to his side and leaned her forearms on the railing, her hands clasped in front of her.

Xiang leaned back against the railing, crossing his feet and arms. A few moments of silence passed between them before he spoke. "Meena, about…last night, I'm sorry that I left like that." He didn't turn to look at her as he continued talking. "It's not that, I don't have feelings for you, it's just that things are complicated in my life right now and…I have some things I have to deal with."

"Xiang," he turned to look at her then and much to his surprise, she was actually smirking. "You're such a gentleman. That's what I like about you. You don't…have to apologize for last night. It's ok. Really." She looked away then. "But I do stand by what I said. So…when you get things sorted out, you know where to find me." She turned to him then, stepping closer. His eyes watched her as she planted a chaste kiss on his lips. He blushed, averting his eyes as she walked towards the ships entrance. She turned back to him then saying, "I can't promise I'll stay available until you're done finding yourself or whatever it is that's complicating things. I'm not the kind of woman who waits around forever, you know." Her head tilted to the side with a smile as she added "Do us both a favor and hurry up with things, ok?" He smiled back, nodding to her as she turned and went back into the ship.

A few minutes passed before Xiang did the same and returned to his quarters. He shut the door behind him and kneeled before his bed, pulling a heavy bag out from under the bed to reveal a small form huddled against the wall. He held out his hand talking quietly to her. "Ok Katara, it's time to come out now. We're almost to shore and I have some things to go over with you." A small hand reached out for his as the rest of the body came crawling out with it. He pulled her up helping her stand.

It had been a month since he first took the little waterbender. In that time she had started to grow quite thin. Xiang had been splitting his meals with her, sometimes willing to go without but she didn't seem to want to eat much. It didn't help that the meals he ate weren't of the highest quality sometimes.

Katara stood there quietly in front of him, still holding his hand. "Do you remember what I told you Katara? About what we have to do when the ship gets to the fire nation?" For the past week he had been telling her every night what they would do when they got to the fire nation. He didn't know if her young mind had quite grasped the concept because she very rarely talked to him.

She nodded then.

"I need you to tell me. I want to make sure you understand because this is very important. I don't want anything to happen to you ok?" Xiang hated to admit it, but in the past month he had grown somewhat attached to the girl. She didn't talk much but when she did she was sweet. After the first week of silence, she had finally started speaking to him. He asked about the things she liked, learning that her favorite color was yellow and that her favorite food was catfish jerky. He never asked about her family and he tried to stay away from asking about her home. She asked him the same things and they fell into a small friendship. Xiang imagined that if his parents had ever had another child other than himself, the relationship would be much like that of the one he had formed with Katara.

"You said I have to go in the bag. That I mustn't make any noise or the very bad men will find me and take me away." Her voice tore him from his thoughts.

"That's right. You mustn't move either. You have to be very still, remember?" She nodded again. "Now it's going to be very hot in my sea bag ok? It might even be a little hard to breathe in there but you must still remember everything I told you. I promise you won't be in there for very long ok?"

"Ok," she replied quietly. She tossed herself at him then, her arms coming around his middle in a tight embrace. He hugged her back, picking her up as he stood to sit on his bed. Her face buried in his chest he barely heard her as she said; "I'm scared."

He leaned back then looking into her blue eyes. "I'm sorry Katara." Pulling her back into a hug he rubbed her back. "I know this is scary but I promise I won't let anything happen to you or let anyone hurt you ok?"

She nodded against his chest as he heard a muffled "ok" from her. He set her down on the bed then and went to retrieve the bag she would be in. Just then he heard the sound of the ship's horns going off, signaling that they were now docking.

"Ok, we're here. It's time. Are you ready?"

She looked at him her eyebrows set in determination as she nodded at him. He smiled his reassurance at her as he walked over to her with his bag in his hand. He could only hope everything would go as he planned.

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**A/N - Some of these minor characters are really just to add to the world I see in my head. Xiang had a life before Katara so I intend to weave some more of his story because he is my OC and I love him :) Read and Review please! Next update will be sooner than this last one. [edited this chapter a little, nothing major]**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N – Hey guys here's chapter 3. Dedicated to my Beta Reader and long time fan of my work, Doggi-chan. You're pretty fucking awesome ^_^**

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**Chapter 3**

When the ship finally pulled into the docks and the crew had all disembarked, Xiang grabbed his sea bag and carefully hoisted it over his shoulders and left the ship. Save for a few dock workers, not many of the crew members stayed behind. Many were tired from the long journey and wanted to get home to see their families. Xiang walked casually as he made his way to the dock's local stables. His family's home was on the other side of the capitol in the upper class districts along with many of the other nobles. He thought briefly of Meena, whose own family also lived in the districts, though they were of a lower nobility.

**-Last Night-**

Katara had chosen to be silent again for the evening and wasn't feeling well. Xiang tried to get her to eat something but she just turned away from him stubbornly. Wanting to let her rest, he told her he was going to go out for a bit. Kneeling in front of her he patted her head, ruffling her hair a bit. "Try and feel better ok?"

She nodded sleepily before crawling underneath his bed. She had somehow taken to sleeping underneath the bed anytime he was not in his quarters. The one time he had asked her why she always hid under the bed like that, she had stated simply that it made her feel safer to be in the dark where no one could find her. He didn't question it too much after that, knowing it was actually a good idea. In case for whatever reason someone managed to get into his rooms when he wasn't there. When he was there, he had the room locked at all times. Katara had grown accustomed to climbing into bed with him when he slept. Often times she waited until she thought he was sleeping before peeking her head above the footboard. When she felt he was asleep she would tip toe to his empty side of the bed and crawl on the bed snuggling up against his back. Xiang didn't know why, but for some reason it felt completely natural to him.

Sometimes he could hear her crying in the night. Soft quiet tears barely audible, even to his ears. Nights when this would happen he would soundlessly turn over and wrap her in his arms. She hardly ever hesitated to let him, choosing only to bury herself deeper in his warm embrace. It sometimes worried him how attached he was becoming. But on the days that she smiled brightly at him his worry would bury itself deep in the back of his mind.

He grabbed a pillow off his bed, passing it to her. When he seen that she was settled he left and headed towards the kitchen hall.

It was quite late and he hadn't expected anyone except the guards on duty to be awake. When he entered the hall Meena was there. She was sitting at the bar flipping through the pages of a book. A tankard was resting by her hand that she occasionally took a drink from. Xiang had meant to grab a drink and just go but it had been awhile since he had talked to her so he thought he might stay. She was one of the few crew members that he liked being around. They had gone through training together and had become close friends over the past few years. He sometimes found himself wanting to tell her about Katara, but then the fear of something happening to her or Katara would remind him it was a bad and risky idea. So, he had taken to avoiding her all together. As he walked up to the bar, taking the stool next to hers, he tried not to notice how tight fitting her training clothes were. She was dressed in black pants with a tightfitting red robe over top. "A fire whiskey please," he ordered. '_just to take the edge off_,' he thought to himself as a tankard was placed in front of him.

"Well look who's decided to emerge from their black hole of darkness." She was looking at him with a smirk as he turned to face her. "What drives you to come down and drink with the common people oh great dark one."

Even after avoiding her for so long nothing felt different. She made him feel relaxed…amongst other things. "Dark one? What exactly is the meaning of that?"

"You know, because you've been oh so broody these days. Staying holed up in your rooms more than you normally do, always looking so serious all the time. Some people think it makes you seem dark and mysterious." She tipped her tankard up finishing it off and ordering another one. The bartender, also one of the ships cooks set down a tankard in front of her as Xiang took a drink from his own. "Though, I have my own theories."

"Oh really? And what exactly might these theories be?"

She took a long drink before completely swiveling towards him a dangerous look in her eye. "I don't know if you can handle it Xiang. It might be a little too close to the truth for your taste."

"I'm all ears Meena." He said looking at her with a smirk of his own.

"I think you've taken a gay lover from one of the ports and you've hidden him in your rooms. Wouldn't be the first time it's happened on this ship you know."

His eyebrow quirked up as he smiled at her saying, "I can assure you Meena, if I've taken any kind of lover to my bed, it would have been a woman."

"Care to prove that?" She asked, her voice low.

Xiang hadn't noticed how close they were to each other. He leaned back just a little before shaking his head. "I think I should disprove some of your other theories first. I feel my character has been misjudged and I have to set the record straight."

Meena leaned back as well taking and finishing off her other drink. Xiang did the same ordering another one. Meena was quiet for a moment before she spoke. "The other one…If I didn't know any better my theory would be that you were avoiding me." She didn't turn back to look at him. Meena was always joking around but there wasn't any joking in her voice this time.

Xiang didn't know how he should answer. She was right after all. He was avoiding her but if he was completely honest with himself it wasn't just because of Katara. He had started to feel something more than friendship for Meena and he wasn't sure he wanted to do anything about it. They were really good friends and they worked well together. He sometimes thought that she might feel the same but was never really quite sure because she was always making jokes. He didn't know if he could take her seriously or not. He tried to laugh it off but even he could tell it was dry and forced. "Don't be ridiculous. That's just as awful as your other theory…" It was quiet for another moment before he finished off his drink and stood from his stool, his back turned to her. "I should get back. I still have some…stuff I have to get done before we dock tomorrow."

"Xiang wait!" Meena called out to him, her stool falling to the ground as she stood abruptly tripping over herself. Xiang turned around just in time to catch her before she crashed into him. She looked up into his face, her cheeks flushed. He felt his own face heat as he became very aware of her breasts pressing into his chest. He cleared the lump in his throat as he helped right herself. They stood awkwardly before she asked in a quiet joking voice "Escort a lady to her room?"

"Sure," he said. The tension making him nervous as he held his arm out to her.

She grabs a hold of his arm swaying on her feet a little. They walk in silence.

When they reach her room, she waits a moment before slipping her arm out of his. When she does he says, "Well here you are. It was fun catching up. I'll try not to be such a hermit on our next raid."

He is about to turn to leave when she pulls his head down to hers roughly. Her mouth over his for only a second before her lips are moving against his. His eyes widen before he slowly returns her kiss just as hungrily. He backs her into the wall next to her door. Their bodies pressed against each other as she lifted her leg and wrapped it around his waist. Xiang moves his hand up the side of her thigh. _How long has it been since he'd been with a woman, _he thought to himself. He groaned into her mouth as she grinded her hips against him. They broke the kiss coming up for air for a brief moment before he moved his lips against her neck.

"My bunkmate is on top deck duty for the night," she whispered gruffly in his ear.

Her voice made him pause. The weight of the situation finally breaking through his sex induced thoughts. Slowly he lowers her leg extricating himself from her body before giving her a slow kiss on the mouth. "Meena, I should get back to my room. You've had quite a bit to drink tonight."

"Xiang," she said her eyes smoldering at him. "Even if I had not one drink tonight I would still want you in my bed." She had her hands on the front of his shirt as she spoke quietly. "I have for a while now."

He took her hands in his and removed them from his chest. Remembering Katara he dropped her hands in front of them. "I'm sorry Meena, but I have to go." He quickly pulled her head towards him planting a soft kiss on her forehead before turning to walk down the hallway. She watched his retreating back slightly confused.

It took every ounce of his will power to continue walking down the hall and to not run back to her.

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"Her name's Grey."

"Huh?" Xiang snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the man in front of him holding out a pair of reins.

The old man sighed loudly. "The ostrich horse. Her name is Grey," he repeated impatiently.

"Oh yes, right. Thank you sir. Here," he said as he handed the man a small handful of coins. He took the reins from his hands. "I'll have her returned sometime tomorrow." The old man waved him off before taking his lantern back into the stable with him. Xiang carefully slid his sea bag to the front of his body before awkwardly mounting the animal. As he set off, he made sure to take the back alleys and side streets as he pondered what exactly it was he was going to tell his mother.

'_Hi mom. So the latest mission we got sent on was to go get rid of the last waterbender of the southern water tribe. Well the thing is, my boss thought he had killed her, you know, but as it turns out the last waterbender wasn't the woman whom he had killed it was actually this cute little girl whom was her daughter. You know, I just couldn't bring myself to kill her. So, I kind of kidnapped her. Yeah, I know I could have left her there, but I wasn't exactly thinking the whole thing through. I know I'm a disappointment and a huge screw up and this is kind of huge but could you please just help me figure out what I should do? I really care about her you know. She's like the little sister I never had. Why is that anyways? Why have you and dad never tried to have more kids? Maybe if you guys had more kids, father wouldn't hate me so much, because you know, he'd have other kids to hate-'_

Xiang's thoughts drifted and he snapped his head back up as he felt his body slipping out of the saddle. He hadn't realized he was falling asleep. He slapped his cheeks a few times, trying to wake himself up as he approached the gates to the upper district neighborhood. His mother was the kindest person he knew but as he nodded to the guards at the gate he wondered if the situation was beyond fixing and understanding, even for his saint of a mother.

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**A/N – What did you guys think? I know this seems like a lot of backstory but it is part of the story I wanted to tell and since this is my story I can do that. Hope you guys like it. There should only be a couple more chapters before we actually get to meet Zuko. So bear with me ok. **

**Also please review, even if it's a flame or critique. I like any kind of feedback as it helps me grow as a writer.**

**On another note I do promise to never hold this story hostage. I write for myself but if there is even one person out there reading and enjoying my work I promise to keep updating. *Looking at you Doggi-chan* ^_^ Next chapter should be up in hopefully less than a week since I have already begun to work on it. Also the first two chapters have been edited as of this update. Please see my profile for other notes about this story.**

**Ta-Ta for now!**


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N – Hey guys here's chapter 4. Sorry it took so long to update. My updates are more likely going to be about 2 weeks apart at this point since I have so much stuff in my personal life going on right now. This chapter is not edited or Beta-ed yet because I wanted to get something out there. So its kind of raw so to speak. Hope you guys like it for now. **_

_**Chapter 4**_

Xiang slowly dismounts his horse and walks around his parents' home to the back. He ties the ostrich horse up in the back shed that they never use. Kneeling on the ground, he slowly sets his bag down for a moment to check on Katara. Her eyes are closed and her face is red. He leans in to listen for her breathing as panicked thoughts run through his mind. He is relieved to find that she is still breathing. _The heat must be getting to her_, he thinks. Looking at her red face he feels guilty for having to keep her in the bag for so long. Leaving the bag open he swings it back in front of him and leaves the shed, closing the doors behind him. He walks across his family's small courtyard to the back entrance, pausing at the sliding doors. He starts to doubt his decision to bring Katara to his mother. She is understanding, true, but what he is doing is treason. What would he do if his own mother tries turning Katara over to the fire lord? He knew he would protect Katara at all costs but wasn't sure how he would do so if it was his own mother he was up against. He takes a deep breath and slowly slides the door open. There are no lanterns on in the house so he assumes his mother must be asleep already. He slips his boots off by the door before silently walking up the stairs to his bedroom on the second floor. As soon as he is in his room he quickly sets his bag down and gently grabs Katara pulling her out of the bag, trying not to wake her. He pulls back the covers on his bed before settling her against the pillows. Due to her face still being red, he leaves the covers off of her. He leaves his room as quietly as he can as he shuts the door behind him. He walks towards the stairs and takes a seat on the top one, deciding he will wait and think about how he actually will tell her about Katara. Judging by the moon still high in the Sky, he knows he has all night to sit and wait for his mother to wake up.

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With the dawn's early light comes the sound of cat doves tweeting outside, enjoying the sun's light. Xiang wakes to the bright morning light, finding a small blanket wrapped around his shoulders and a small pillow between his head and the wall. His mother's thoughtfulness never ceases to amaze him. _His mother! _Xiang stood quickly, the pillow and blanket falling to the floor, as he walks swiftly down the stairs to find his mother in the kitchen. She is washing something in the water basin as he comes to stand a few feet behind her.

"Good morning Mom," he says rather nervously.

His mother pauses what she is doing, wiping her hands on her apron. Turning around, her hand swiftly comes across Xiang's face, the sound echoing in the quiet room. Her reaction lets him know she must have found Katara in his room. He should have just slept in his room against the door or something.

"I will give you a chance to explain why that child is here. However, I would first like to know how you could have possibly been so irresponsible as to have left her in that condition." She crosses her arms, a mixture of emotions shows on her face; anger, disappointment. He doesn't know which emotion he wants to reconcile with first. "Why didn't you wake me up as soon as you arrived? Any later and that child could be dead Xiang," his mother's scolding voice turns into one of concern.

He looks away from her then, his shoulders slumping. He had no idea Katara was in such bad shape. He knew she hadn't been feeling well but thought it was just sea sickness. He thought her warmth was from being stuffed in his bag. When was he going to stop making such horrible decisions? One of these days he was going to get Katara killed. He looks up then as he feels his mother's small frame next to his, her small arms encircling his waist.

"Never mind all that for now. I'm glad you've come back home safely. Come with me upstairs and we can talk about your journey. I need to check on the girl." She pulls away from him holding him out in front of her at arm's length. "Xiang, have you lost weight?"

Xiang sighs, glad to see his mother is as he has always remembered her. "No mother, I haven't lost any weight."

She gives him a doubtful look, almost looking down on him even though she is shorter than him. "Grab that tray there and bring it up with you." She gestures to a wooden tray with a stone teapot and cup. On the tray is also a bowl of some kind of green liquid and a spoon. Xiang picks up the tray and follows his mother up the stairs. He leans down to smell the soup and nearly gags on the putrid smell of it.

"Mother what is this stuff? It smells awful?"

"It's a medicinal soup with lots of protein and herbs. It will help stave off the illness and starvation."

Following his mother into his room he could now see much clearer in the morning light. Guilt stabs at his chest as he looks upon Katara's pale face. He also notices how thin she truly is. Being stuck in his quarters on the ship he hadn't seen her in broad daylight since the day he took her. "I didn't know she was this sick," he says quietly. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Set the tray down on the desk. I won't wake her till later. I will need you to get some things from the market later and some more medicine from my clinic. For now let's talk about your trip and this little girl." His mother sits down on the edge of his bed as he takes a seat in one his arms chairs.

"What exactly do you want to know?"

"Well, for one, what is a child of the water tribes doing in our home, in the fire nation?"

"How do you know she's from the water tribes?" he asks looking up at her.

"Xiang she has fur boots that you didn't bother to remove from her, and her skin is fairly tan. Not to mention her eyes are blue and she has a water tribe symbol engraved into her necklace. Anyone who takes more than a second glance at her walking down the street could she is water tribe." His mother is looking at the child almost longingly.

Xiang rubs his neck with one of his hands before resting his arms on his knees, resting his face against a balled fist. "You're right. She is from the water tribes. That's where we were sent on this last mission. We were sent there on orders to…get rid of the last water bender of the southern water tribe. Yon Rah had found the last water bender in one of the igloos and he killed her. When he came out he had announced to everyone that we needed supplies before going back. I went into one of he tents and found the woman's daughter kneeling by her dead body." Xiang closes his eyes. "she was covered in blood."

"I'm sorry Xiang. I knew it was a mistake to let your father force you to join the southern raiders. I could see why you took pity on the child. You have a kind heart, but this-"

He opens his eyes and cuts his mother off, his eyes stony as he stares at the rug on his floor with the fire nation symbol embroidered on it. "Mother, I didn't take her with me simply because of that moment of weakness. I took her with me because her mother wasn't the last waterbender. She is."

"What? How do you know that for sure?"

"Because, when I came into her hut and I found her like that I left immediately. I knew the woman was who Yon Rah was talking about but as I turned to leave that little girl started throwing snow and water at me. When I turned around she wasn't just throwing it at me, she was bending it at me."

"So you thought you would kidnap her? I could understand not killing her Xiang but why didn't you just leave her there? This is one of the most foolish things you have ever done."

"If I had left her the fire lord would eventually have found out mother. You know he would have. And then what, our entire crew could be held responsible. One day they would go back and Kill her. I…I know it was stupid but I just, I wanted to protect her."

There was a silence in the room. His mother moved closer to Katara to remove the cloth from her head. She took the cloth and dipped it into the bowl of hot water that was sitting by the bed. Wringing it out she folds it and places it back on the child's head.

"What is the girl's name?" his mother is brushing a stray strand of hair away from Katara's face when he answers her.

"Her name is Katara."

His mother sighs turning back to him. "It's a beautiful name." After another long pause she says "Xiang, you have endangered this whole family by bringing her here, you know that right?"

"Yes, I know. I'm sorry"

"There's nothing you can do now. She is here. I suppose I have more things I will have to discuss with you now, pertaining to what we now have to do, but for now get some real rest. When you wake up I'll need you to get some things for me as I mentioned earlier and then we can dicuss what we're going to have to do."

Xiang gets up from his chair and walks to the door. Before leaving he leans down to hug his mother from the side. She pats his forearm beneath her neck saying, "Everything will be alright Xiang. Go get some rest." Xiang releases his mother and makes his way to the family's guest room across the hall, stopping to pick up the earlier abandoned pillow and blanket. He takes a last look at his bedroom before entering the guestroom and collapsing on the bed. For the first time in months he sleeps soundly.

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When Xiang woke it was sometime in the late afternoon. He slips on his shirt and walks out into the hallway over to his room to check in on Katara. He is somewhat surprised to see that she is still sleeping. He closes the door behind him and makes his way down the steps to find his mother sitting in the living room with various documents spread over the coffee table in front of her. She is writing something down when she notices him at the bottom of the steps.

"Good you're awake." She waves him over to sit next to her as she makes room on the couch for him. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah I did actually. It was really nice. I'm worried though. Is it ok that Katara is still sleeping?" He asks.

His mother continues to write as she explains, "She'll be fine. She needs a lot of rest now that she's had some proper medicine. Her body is trying to fight off illness and a major climate change to her body so she's going to be sleeping a lot in the next few days. She was briefly awake earlier to eat but she went back to sleep. She is very timid. She didn't speak to me at all."

"She's like that. The first week I spent with her she didn't speak to me at all. Only to tell me her name. But I think with time she'll come around." Xiang is smiling as his mother turns to look at him, a smile lighting up on her own face.

"You really care about this little girl don't you?"

Xiang's cheeks brighten a little as he turns to her. "I do mom. I don't know. She's like the little sister I never had and I want to protect her at all costs. I realize now it was stupid to bring her here but if it means she'll be safe ten years from now then wasn't it worth it?"

She puts a hand on his cheek patting it lightly. "You've grown so much in the past few years I sometimes forget you're not my little boy anymore. I suppose if its worth it that we should do all we can to see that she is protected."

"Thank you mom." She murmurs a 'you're welcome' as she turns back to the papers. Xiang finally noticing all the paper work asks "What's with all this?"

"This is everything that I need to take care of before Katara gets better and we have to leave. I'm going to need someone to take care of my patients at the clinic while we are away-"

"Wait, mom what do you mean leave?" Xiang's brows furrow at he looks at his mother.

"Oh right. Um, well I know a way we can help Katara be safe. You may not like it, but well it's one of the only options we have." Her hands sit in her lap as she looks at her son, a serious look on her face. "It's time for us to make a visit to your grandmother."

"Ok…" he says slowly narrowing his eyes at his mother. "Grandmother is dead mom. I doubt even she can help us from beyond the grave unless you've suddenly developed the ability to speak to spirits?"

"No Xiang I haven't. Your grandmother Kwan is not who we must see. I'm talking about my own mother." Xiang raises an eyebrow about to ask more questions when his mother puts up her hand to silence him. "Just listen for a moment. I know your father and I have always told you in the past that my mother is dead. The truth is that, well, she is very much alive." Her eyes narrow and harden as she explains further, "You have to understand Xiang. Your grandmother is not in our lives for a reason. In fact even your father doesn't know she is still alive. Your grandmother is nothing like your sweet loving grandmother Kwan. She is terribly cruel. Growing up, she only ever showed coldness and hatred towards me. When I found out I was pregnant with you I thought things would change and perhaps maybe she might be different with a grandson on the way. However, it only made me want to stay away from her for good."

"I'm sorry that she was horrible to you mom. No child deserves to be treated with such unkindness. I'm lost though. What exactly does this have to do with Katara? If she really is as horrible as you describe her to be then what makes you think she is going to help us? Why would you even risk trusting someone like that?"

She stands up from the couch stepping a few feet away from him, wrapping her arms across her midriff. Her back faces him for a moment before she answers quietly. "She is the only one who can help us Xiang because your grandmother is a waterbender."

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_***DUN DUN DUN* **_

_**A/N - Finally got this chapter out. This chapter for some reason was really hard to write. Mainly because I want to get to the Zutara chapters so badly! Since those are my favorite to write but I can't get to them 2 without all this back story. So I'm thinking with what I have outlined I still have maybe 2 more chapters and then we'll get to meet Zuko, so bear with me ^-^ **_

_**Please Read and Review ^-^**_


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